News spread that a rare monster had appeared in a dungeon within our activity area.
A golden, glowing slime appeared on the stream of some dungeon streamer. Various dungeon streamers have gathered at that dungeon to attempt to defeat it.
We, the Shadow Stars, also decided to dive into the dungeon so we wouldn’t fall behind the trend.
I was once again watching everyone’s streams from home. Koya, Shiba-san, Daigo-san, and Ikezawa-san, four people in total, went to the dungeon to start their exploration.
Comment Section:
- “So Shadow Stars came to this dungeon too.”
- “Honestly, I’m looking forward to them hunting the rare monster.”
- “If it’s Shadow Stars, they’ll pull it off, right?”
The comment section was full of anticipation. Reading the comments, Ikezawa-san was grinning.
“Hehe. The rare monster that’s causing a stir in the streets. This is a chance for us to hunt it and make a name for ourselves!”
For Ikezawa-san, who was obsessed with standing out, this rare monster incident must be quite exciting. After all, just attempting to take on a rare monster has already brought more people to watch this stream than usual.
“Kaito-kun, don’t let your guard down. The enemy isn’t just the rare monster. Even regular monsters can take you down if you’re careless.”
“Alright.”
Ikezawa-san obediently listened to what Daigo-san said. She knew she had rare abilities and could stand out on stream, so she was quite docile.
“Koya-kun, there’s a monster in front of you. Be careful.”
Shiba-san warned Koya. A green slime was in front of them, shooting liquid toward Koya.
“Whoa!”
Koya was hit by the liquid. His skin started sizzling with a sound.
“Ah, hot!”
“Koya-kun, are you alright? …Step back, I’ll handle this.”
Shiba-san thrust his spear into the slime. With that powerful attack, the slime disappeared in one hit.
“Ugh…”
Koya tried to touch the spot where the liquid had landed.
“Koya-kun, don’t touch it.”
Shiba-san stopped Koya, then took out a bottle of water and used it to wash away the slime’s liquid from Koya’s body.
“You shouldn’t touch slime liquid carelessly. The area it touches will rot. Wash it off with clean water like this and wipe it with a clean cloth. That’s the proper way to treat it.”
Shiba-san gave Koya appropriate treatment. As expected from someone with a lot of dungeon experience, he knew exactly how to handle such situations.
Comment Section:
- “As expected from Shiba.”
- “Reliable.”
- “We really can’t do without Shiba-san in this party.”
“Thank you…” Koya said, looking down with a gloomy face. I wonder if Koya is alright. He tends to feel guilty when he feels like his abilities aren’t enough.
I hope he’s not too down after adding extra burden to his teammates by getting hit by the slime’s attack.
Comment Section:
- “Koya should have dodged that.”
Uh-oh. Criticism comments for Koya are starting to show up. I need to delete them before he sees them. Using moderator powers to delete the comments…
“Sorry, Shiba-san. I should’ve dodged that…” Koya muttered.
Koya… did he read those comments? What should I do? Should I encourage him over the intercom?
“Well, it’s better to avoid attacks if you can, but sometimes you just can’t help but get hit. Even if that happens, don’t overthink it. You need to reset your mindset, or it could lead to a bigger mistake next time.”
“Yeah… sorry. I was getting a bit down.”
Comment Section:
- “What happened? This isn’t like Koya.”
- “Is Koya feeling down?”
- “Koya, you can do it!”
There were also some warm comments encouraging Koya. I hope Koya notices them and cheers up…
“Oh? You guys are here too?”
I heard a familiar voice. A camera was aimed in the direction of the voice.
It was unmistakably Lena-tan, the streamer who often appears in front of us.
Comment Section:
- “Encountered another dungeon streamer.”
- “Whoa, she’s big.”
- “Going into a dungeon with such a revealing outfit, is she underestimating it?”
- “Lena-tan doesn’t really fight much. Are you a noob or something?”
- “Even if she doesn’t fight, there’s still appropriate attire for a dungeon.”
The comment section started buzzing. Well, I guess her streaming style is controversial.
“Hahaha. Looks like Shadow Stars is carrying one dead weight.”
One of Lena-tan’s followers said something outrageous while looking at Koya.
“Wha—what did you say?!”
Koya reached for his sword. This tense atmosphere is bad. I need to do something about it…
“Hey, I just said there’s one dead weight, I didn’t mean you. Getting angry like that means you’re aware of it, right?”
“Koya-kun, stop. Arguing with them is a waste of time.”
Shiba-san calmly stopped Koya.
“But…! Shiba-san!”
“Hehe. I won’t lose to a company that rejected my invitations so many times. The rare monster hunt is ours.”
Lena-tan laughed unpleasantly. It was a smile that had none of her usual innocence, just a nasty one.
Well, we’ve rejected Lena-tan before. But honestly, her personal grudge is too much, isn’t it?
If you don’t have enough skill or talent, it’s only natural to be rejected, and if her invitation was obviously based on poaching, it makes sense to decline.
“Well, we’ll go ahead. Luckily, none of us have been hit by the slime’s liquid.”
Lena-tan said and led her followers deeper into the dungeon.
After Lena-tan and her group disappeared from sight, Koya bit his lip in frustration.
“Shiba-san. I’m sorry. I let them get ahead of us because of my mistake.”
“You don’t need to worry about it. I’m sure you didn’t want to get hit by the attack.”
Comment Section:
- “Those guys are really rude.”
- “I don’t want them to win.”
- “We’ve got to beat the rare monster before them.”
There was anger in the comments directed at Lena-tan and her group.
I’m honestly happy that people are angry for us.
“What’s with that girl? She’s got huge boobs but such a bad personality.”
“Kaito-kun, I don’t think breast size and personality are really related.”
Ikezawa-san made a strange comment, and Daigo-san interrupted her.
“Koya-kun, are you feeling okay now?”
Shiba-san checked on Koya’s condition.
“Yes. I don’t feel any discomfort. I’m fine to move around.”
“Good. Alright, let’s continue.”
Now that Koya was healed, Shiba-san and the others started heading deeper into the dungeon.
As they progressed, they saw Lena-tan and her group fighting a monster.
“Ha! Yah!”
Her followers were attacking the monster. Their fighting style was sloppy, and compared to Shiba-san, they had no elegance at all.
They were just surrounding the monster and beating it senseless, relying purely on numbers.
Even though they weren’t working together, they managed to win just because the monster was weak and there were so many of them.
With a fighting style like that, how could they have the nerve to say anything to us? I didn’t even want to hear anything from them.
“Alright! We got it!”
“Wow, awesome! You’re amazing! Congratulations!”
Lena-tan didn’t participate in the battle at all, only offering praise and encouragement. She was the same as always.
I really don’t want to lose to them. I reaffirmed that feeling.
